The Car Thread

[charlesr]

Lucy wants one (she used to have a CRX Si import which was totally badass on Mugen split rims and jet black paint). A friend drove one for a couple of days and said it was cool to drive. There are rumours of a CR-Z SiR but haven't seen anything concrete yet.

If it turns out like the concept car it will be legendary.

[Colin]

I saw a story about a Mugen one I think, maybe on pistonheads?

[charlesr]

There are a few lovely bodykits, like the Mugen:



C-West (always OTT!):


More C-West pics: http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...th-videos.html

[Spatial]

Fair play that Honda does look like a bit sexy bit of machinery - very sleek.

So everyone else is past caring by now I'm sure, but my new car buying antics aren't finished.

Once again it was going quite well until I sat down and did the maths today. Last week the latest dealership I'd been too was pressuring me to bite their hand off there and then after a test drive and they'd spat out some numbers at me (at that point they were already ahead of the Mitsubishi garage who wouldn't give me any real numbers).

But if there's only one thing I've learnt in this life, it's that you never make serious financial decisions without going away to think about it.

Glad I did too.

They're doing a ?700 deposit contribution deal at the moment amongst other things. When I looked, there was mention of this anywhere on the breakdown pf figures. So I called them back up and got the most half hearted excuse ever "Well, we add that the end, either to your deposit total or you just give us less deposit..."

So at what point where you going to do that if I'd taken your offer up there and then? It certainly wasn't mentioned until I'd brought it up today. And I'd made it clear how much deposit I was willing to pay, so it should have just been tacked it on - especially since it reduced the monthly payments by almost ?30.

Good news though is that, now I've gotten them to rejig the figures, I think I'm going to go for it (barring any sudden surprise last minute changes to what I was offered )

[charlesr]

Colours? Spec?

[Spatial]

Gone for a 1.6 Tekna in Gun Metallic, so it should look a bit like this



Comes with built in sat nav, 360 camera parking assist (handy for me cos I can't park a car for toffee), heated seats, Xenon headlights, bluetooth integration for music and phone, intelligent autokey.

It was a toss up between that an the N-tec+ which is probably better value for money and still got a very high spec (the Tekna extras like the heated seats and Xenon headlights could be seen as a bit superfluous but I managed to get it for less than I'm currently paying for my car, so it's all good).

Now just have to while away two months till my order comes in

[_SD_]

This has reminded me that I best get down the Post Office and sort the car tax out in t morning seeing as it runs out, well, tomorrow. ?143 for 6 months or ?260 for the year. Bugger.

[Yakumo]

Here's a strange question. Have you ever found something in your car that you never knew was there? I'm on about actually in the car, not the engine bay. The reason I bring this up is because the other day I found out my car has heaters in the back! Of course, big 4x4 cars and long wheel base cars often have heaters in the back but not normal none executive saloons. I can't believe I've owned this car for 5 years yet never knew. There are no controls for a rear heater at all.
The heater is under the passenger seat so whoever sits there is going to get lovely toasty toes in the winter. The only person who does sit in that area though is my son. I've never actually been a passenger in the back of my own car.

[charlesr]

I'm not certain, but I think my MY2000 has rear heaters under the front seats. Certainly the MY2005 Legacy did.

I didn't realise I had a dash cup holder for ages (there is one in the center console that I was using). Then discovered a tiny panel that pulls out.

I also discovered phono leads in the boot (under the carpet) for a sub , but that's obviously not standard. Some previous owner.

There's also a retrofitted green LED on the dash that I have no idea what it does. It flashes if the hazard lights are on though....

[charlesr]

Just checked, and the MY2000 doesn't have them, although it doesn't seem to need them - there was hot air coming through from the front wells.

What I did determine was that when it's 1?C, the turbo can punch an inordinate about of dense air into the cylinders. Whoosh.

[Yakumo]

Whoosh indeed

I actually knew about the funnel that is the rear heater under the passenger seat for some time. I always though it was for fitting some sort of wire loom though. After all, the drivers seat has alsorts of cables attached to the underside.

That green LED you mentioned sounds interesting. I have loads of green LEDs in my car too on the ignition barrel, floor lights front and rear and in the small cubby compartment near the stearing wheel but I'm pretty sure they're standard trim. Nothing like you mentioned. I wonder what it could be for?

[Rossco]

Getting a Civic Type-R in a few weeks when I get home. So excited.

Only problem is, I'm getting one about 3-4 years old and it's a minefield working through pirvate ads on pistonheads, autotrader, etc finding out exactly what model the people are selling. I only want the GT version for all the extras it comes with, but some people say they have the GT and it's clearly not and some people have the GT version but don't state it is or specifically list the GT extras. As far as I know, the physical way to tell is if it has front fog lights or not but I hope that it's not an extra that can be added to vanilla versions that'll then confuse my buying process.

[Colin]

Wasn't the GT the only model that came with built in sat nav? Would be an easy way to tell.

[Rossco]

Don't think so. I think that is the White Championship Edition that comes with that. Could be wrong though...

[Yakumo]

My car started to leak oil all over the driveway yesterday with a nasty smell. I took a look underneath the car and saw that the engine oil sump bolt was wet. Must be a dodgy seal I thought. So I took it down to Subaru tonight and they put it on the ramp. Once lifted it was easy to see what the issue was. Blood Autobacks (garage chain a bit like Halfords) hadn't been changing the oil filter when changing the oil. The bastards! The filter was caked in oil and had dripped down over the oil sump nut which made me think it was a seal issue.

Anyway, the Subaru guy fitted a new one for only 10 pounds and wrote me a letter of complaint which I will take to Autobacks tomorrow. they had charged me twice over the last year for a oil filter change as well. I just hope for their sake that no damage has been done to the engine.